ECONOMIC APPRAISAL OF NOISE - INTEGRATING DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NOISE EXPOSURE AND HEALTH IMPACTS IN THE UK

摘要

Noise is a pervasive and continual problem across the UK, which must be managed in a consistent and appropriate manner. The UK government's Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits Noise Subject Group (IGCB(N)) was established to develop a scientific and pragmatic approach to quantifying and valuing impacts of environmental noise. There is not yet a methodology to include all impacts, such as health, amenity, productivity and ecosystems, in government policy appraisal. To remedy this, in 2009, the IGCB(N) commissioned a literature review to identify impacts where quantitative links were sufficiently proven for dose-response functions to be incorporated into evaluation methodology, focusing on health. This review has recommended that noise impacts on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) be incorporated into government decision-making as monetary marginal costs per decibel per household. Implementing the ISO 1990:1999 standard was recommended as a sufficient means of avoiding hearing impairment impacts. Indicative impacts of increased incidence of hypertension and sleep disturbance can be included. The review has identified key areas of future research, namely, linking noise to productivity losses (through sleep disturbance), damage to ecosystems, further health impacts (through hypertension), and resolving confounding factors such as air quality impacts. For areas such as mental health, cognitive development and more advanced measures of amenity, research is not yet robust enough for inclusion in IGCB(N) methodology; the IGCB(N) will monitor progress. Finally, the review identified a number of structural barriers to academic agreement on a single dose-response function for any impact.